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ASIA PACIFIC TRAVEL'S NORTH KOREA 2012 TOURS UPDATE JANUARY 2012Please note that the death last month in Pyongyang of the North Korean leader Kim Jung Il is not expected to have any impact on tourism for 2012. 2012 will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder and Eternal President of the DPRK, so there will be a year of festivities and celebrations beginning around his birthday on April 15th. The Korea International Travel Company (KITC) in Pyongyang has reconfirmed to Asia Pacific Travel that again for 2012 Americans will be treated the same as other nationalities (except for South Koreans) in being allowed to: 1) visit the DPRK year round; 2) stay for longer periods than the old 5 day limit; and 3) pay the same price as Europeans and Japanese (but still more than Chinese and some other nationalities). Unfortunately Americans are still not allowed to take the train between the DPRK and China. Although this site, as a practical matter, is primarily for English-speakers, citizens of any country will find it useful as well and are welcome on our tours (except for South Koreans who must go through a different host organizations in the DPRK). The staff here at Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. have designed this website to provide you relevant information on travel to the DPRK and has included "recommended" activities based on over sixteen years of practical experience in North Korea travel. (Click on this hyperlink to learn more about our “background” with the DPRK.) If this is your first visit to an Asia Pacific Travel web site, please take a minute to read through the helpful information below before you begin to explore other pages of our North Korea web site and then select a tour that is right for you from the list on our "Itineraries" button in the left panel or “click here”. We know the photographs are nice (that's why we put them on the web site), but please take some time to read the text as well. Travel to North Korea is serious business and requires an investment of time on your part to be sure things work smoothly, and that you get the most out of your trip. Thanks for visiting. North Korea by the Numbers CAPITAL: Pyongyang (means "flat land," "plain," or "cozy place") AREA: North Korea: 46,541 sq. mi. / 120,540 sq. km. Rank: 99th in World / 22nd in Asia South Korea: 38,023 sq. mi. / 98,480 sq. km. Rank: 109th in World / 23rd in Asia U.S.: 3,717,813 sq. mi. / 9,629,091 sq. km. Rank: 3rd in World ARABLE LAND: North Korea: 21% Rank: 54th in World / 8th in Asia South Korea: 17% Rank: 68th in World / 10th in Asia U.S.: 19% Rank: 61st in World HIGHEST POINT: North Korea: 9,003 ft. / 2,744 m. Rank: 85th in World / 23rd in Asia South Korea: 6,398 ft. / 1,950 m. Rank: 123rd in World / 26th in Asia U.S.: 20,322 ft. / 6,194 m. Rank: 15th in World POPULATION: North Korea: 22,917,177 Rank: 47th in World / 16th in Asia South Korea: 48,142,000 Rank: 24th in World / 10th in Asia U.S.: 295,734,134 Rank: 3rd in World LABOR FORCE: North Korea: 9,600,000 Rank: 45th in World / 19th in Asia South Korea: 22,920,000 Rank: 20th in World / 11th in Asia U.S.: 147,400,000 Rank: 3rd in World LITERACY RATE: North Korea: 99% Rank: 24th in World / 4th in Asia South Korea: 98% Rank: 53rd in World / 7th in Asia U.S.: 97% Rank: 62nd in World 
  Please note that if you would like to see all the photos related to this specific page, please click on the Photo Gallery button in the left panel. The Photo Gallery button will display in a new page all the photos shown in the Flash strip along the top of the page, whether it is a country, city or attraction page. You can click on any of the thumbnail photos to see a much larger version. |
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